Splinter Cell: Agency Collapse
by Salem Wolf
Summary: James Anderson just became a Splinter Cell, and when his first mission involves infiltrating Area 51, the NSA learns a deadly secret that could jeopardize National Security in one of the worst ways possible.
1. Beginnings

His eyes burned from the morning sun, the previous night had left him falling into bed woozy and feeling as though he were hungover, though no alcohol was consumed over the course of even the last week. Despite his hard work he felt as though he were no where closer to his desired goal, which was an active NSA mission. The National Security Agency, it were perhaps called the Father of Third Echelon, a specialty operative agency specializing in the use of black ops agents called Splinter Cells. These Splinter Cells operate in total secrecy, not a single enemy should know of their existence nor should a single trace be left behind during a mission, and if (God forbid) they were discovered and captured then the United States Government would deny their existence and rather than expose everything, allow their one Splinter Cell to die but that was a fate all Splinter Cells knew could occur were they to blow their cover.

He was barely 35-years-old but a military man his entire adult life. Enlisted in the Air Force at 18, spent three years trained to fly dangerous air missions then another two years as a Test Pilot for many experimental and highly dangerous air craft no other Pilot would be stupid enough to test, only 12 out of his 50 plus craft ever exploded on him, and only once was he injured beyond a few week recovery period. After his time was up he went back to civilian life for a few months before boredom struck and he decided to enlist in the United States Navy for four years as a pilot then being taught to command submarines. When his term was nearly up his desire to remain in the armed service led him to volunteer himself for the United States Navy Sea, Land and Air or more commonly known as the United States Navy SEALs . Passing each prerequisite with a little below flying colors led him to being called an official SEAL for the duration of 5 years where he served in Team 5, when he left after his term to enjoy a more quiet and simple civilian life. It was just after his 35th birthday that the NSA recruited him to work for them, his knowledge of stealth tactics, various weapons and languages made him an ideal choice for their Splinter Cell project.

Several months of training exercises to shape him into the ultimate lone warrior, getting back in shape and proving he was a good man for the job would lead him to the present day where, he was grudgingly getting out of bed to accomplish his morning bathroom habits which were less of a habit and more of good upbringing on his parent's behalf, both of which had died over a decade ago. A loud yawn and a hand through his thick, short, dark brown hair and he was ready to take on the day - only after his activities were done.

A half hour later as the Splinter Cell-in-training finished his morning breakfast and brushed his teeth did he receive a phone call from a private number, though he wasn't interesting in picking up for fear of talking to some telemarketer, the call was more than worth the risk for on the other end was a fairly cheery man,

"Congratulations on your recent acceptance, you've proven yourself a valuable asset to us. We've got an assignment mission for you. You know how to get here." The voice silenced and the other end clicked.

"Great." His voice uttered half-sarcastically at the uber-cheery prick on the other end, no name no nothing, but for fear of phone tapping the calls were usually rather short and avoided main details.

The National Security Agency lies about five miles outside of a town called Laurel, located in Maryland. The NSA is known for the headquarters of the most secretive intelligence agency ever known and denied. It can intercept and has been known to intercept all forms of communication between man called SIGINT (Signals Intelligence). They analyze any and all transmissions for any out of the ordinary or suspicious where they can stealthfully and quickly gather more intelligence without ever leaving a trace. The NSA was where he was heading, living 50 miles away from the facility by choice during his training gave him great lay of the land, and within an hour he arrived at the gates of the NSA.

The walls were bright white and the lights above weren't helping either, with his eyes closed he was lying nearly naked on a cold metal table, a few people were sterilized in the room with him. His mission, as it turned out, was a Cochlear implant which provided silent communications between operative and the watcher or mission leader. The implant took about 1-2 hours and the patient was allowed to leave the same day, with a recovery time of about 4 weeks. It was a very precise procedure, it had to work in such a way to allow the operative near crystal clear transmissions, any misstep could result in a malfunction and cause the operative to go back under the knife for a second time. Once the procedure was complete they attached a nearly invisible patch just above the Adam's Apple, called a Sub-Vocal Transceiver which, with precise and accurate use was the perfect way to communicate back to the NSA without a single word being truly spoken.

The skill needed to use one was definitely not an easy one, it demanded a cross between a whisper and ventriloquism which allowed silent communications even meters away from an enemy. It was basically a final link to being a true Splinter Cell because without it, the entire mission could be blown on a single transmission and if you weren't an officially trained Splinter Cell or failed to be up to Third Echelon's standards there was no point in going through the procedure in the first place.

"How's it feel, Mr. Anderson?" Anderson, a fairly typical American last name his father was typically named.

"Feels just like surgery, only without anesthetic." Anderson replied grimly, "Anyway to take it out?" He asked, though he hadn't moved from the table. His voice, typical of most Agents was a bit dark and scruffy, but you wouldn't be cheery and happy-go-lucky were you doing what these men were doing.

"Not unless you like pain, it's right behind your ear so I wouldn't bother. The lack of anesthetic was necessary, we feel it's unnecessary in this low-risk procedure."

Over the course of the next few weeks Anderson was mainly home recovering from the procedure, upon the 5th week the wound had completely healed and the small shaved spot the Doctor did to him was nearly covered with hair once more, though not as long as the rest, it was less conspicuous than before. The phone rang as Anderson finished his meal, Perfect timing he thought sarcastically. Once he answered the phone a familiar voice spoke to him,

"How's the implant?"

"I can barely notice it."

"Good. Tapping it allows you to switch channels, it can be switched off when not on the job, hold the implant down for a few seconds instead of tapping it. You can differentiate between channels by the low tone, 7 channels, 7 tones, like a cuckoo clock, but less annoying. One tone for channel one, two for two, so on."

"Glad that's out of the way, still hurts a little but the wound is healed from what I can tell."

"Perfect, you've got a mission, important one according to Lambert, come see us and more will be explained." The voice died and the click of the phone explained all Anderson needed, once the phone was hung up he readied himself to leave the house to the NSA for a second time.

Back at the NSA he was met by an African-American man in their lobby.

"James Anderson, I'm glad to hear your training went well." James Anderson was his full name, as spoken by Colonel Irving Lambert, who was a tad shorter than the 5'10" athletic man, who was coincidentally the same height as fellow Splinter Cell Samuel Fisher. Though not a veteran of the CIA Directorate of Operations as Sam Fisher, the experience in the various branches of Military service gave James what was needed to be a successful Splinter Cell.

"Pleasure, Colonel." James saluted immediately, recognizing Lambert as his superior.

"There's no need for that Mr. Anderson, in fact we can operate on a first name basis here, we're not in the SEALs anymore, James." That reaction led James to releasing his salute and standing at-ease.

"Your Cochlear implant is showing up as working quite well."

"Speaking of which, Colonel, how do I use the Sub-Vocal Transceiver?" A few minutes of explanations led James to getting the technique down fairly well, he was a good whisperer and a quick learner, so the Transceiver part was a cake walk for the man.

"So what's my mission, Colonel?"

"Glad you asked, we'll get you suited up and explain on the way."

A half hour passed before James was flying in a V-22 Osprey, Third Echelon's main source of flight in the agency. It allowed for the Splinter Cells to be flown into the mission area and allow the watchers to remain within distance once the mission was accomplished. Sitting on an uncomfortable seat that James could only imagine was to ensure no one got comfy while flying, just made the minutes pass by in a manner slower than one could think possible.

"We've been informed less than two hours ago," The Colonel's voice crackled over the cochlear implant which was the confirmation by James that the implant worked perfectly and as designed to, "A United States Military Base was infiltrated by class of Secret Agent not unlike our Splinter Cells. We fear another nation has created their own form of Third Echelon and is using it for information gathering."

"What kind of Military Base would have information another Splinter Cell organization would want?"

"The base is a highly secretive yet well-known base designated Area 51."

"Hold on, how did anyone manage to get inside without being seen, it's surrounded by desert for miles and any craft flying at any height would be forced to land or be shot down."

"Exactly. So not only did they make it inside, they escaped to safety, or so we believed." Lambert's words was met with confusion,

"How do we know it was infiltrated and they escaped?"

"One lone image. The security team missed it during the live feed, but during the rewatching noticed a few seconds of tape that appeared odd, once it was digitally enhanced a faint image of a human figure can be seen before moving."

"And there's no way it could have been an anomaly with the feed?"

"They went over it hundreds of times before confirming it was indeed inside the base and not from the video. Everything has occurred within a time span of two hours, we now believe that whatever is inside that base is still there and you are going in."

"That makes no sense. Why me?"

"Because, to catch a Splinter Cell you must be and think like a Splinter Cell. We cannot allow the intruder to be aware that we are on to them for fear of a hasty escape, and we definitely cannot have them dead because they need to be interrogated."

"Alright, I get it. So no one will know I'm there?"

"Exactly. If you get caught you will be shot at, you will be treated like an enemy no matter what. Be careful, Anderson, you've got a lot riding on this first mission."

"Just my luck." James sighed, he stood from his bench and walked to the rear of the aircraft where he waited for the green light to jump.

"You'll land 30 miles from the base, just far enough to prevent us from being spotted, we'll not be nearby in case anything goes wrong, so you have to enter and escape without being spotted. The guards will most likely be equipped with night vision or thermal goggles. You have our specially made Trifocals, they allow two different views: Thermal and Night Vision in one set of goggles, the pride of Third Echelon, they will be your greatest ally along with your OPSAT (Operational Satellite Up-Link) which will display real-time information. You've been issued a single Standard Military CQC Knife and a modified Five-SeveN pistol called a SC Pistol with a silencer and a laser sight for precise firing. You are not issued Fifth Freedom, therefore - and I strongly urge this - there is to be no deaths on the site."

"Alright. I understand, no one is to be killed during this mission."

"You've also been given a standard issue Splinter Cell Rifle called a SC-20K. It has a launcher attachment which can fire Sticky Shockers which can knock out an enemy, though they can only be used once and you only have three on you. Two sticky cameras which allow you to view the image from your OPSAT as well as change the view on the camera to Thermal and NV if needed. They are reusable only if you do not use the self-destruct feature which releases knockout gas, is that clear?"

"I've got my equipment down then, anything else?"

"Yes, you've also been issued five airfoil rounds, hitting an enemy in the head will allow you to knock them out, and your suit, it's tight fitting and makes no noise when moving, has sensors to detect the amount of light hitting the suit and detect laser sightings which can prevent you from being shot with a laser sight. It has a heating/cooling system to keep it a moderate and comfortable temperature in any condition, kevlar threads to make it nearly bulletproof but only from long range, anything else can penetrate the suit. It also has a few, what we call, bladders, which hold water and keep you from getting thirsty for up to 12 hours."

"...are we done?"

"Yes." And as if on cue the light changed from it's dim red glow to a bright green which opened the rear doors and allowed James Anderson to jump from the air, once he landed he would have 30 miles to travel to reach Area 51 where, if the information was correct, the intruder from another country hid and was attempting to retrieve information.

_Here's hoping for a successful first mission, Anderson._ He thought as he pummeled towards the ground below.


	2. Insertion

Groom Lake, it was home to the famous Area 51 and only 5 miles from James Anderson's current location. Only a fool would have walked 30 miles and risk the intruder inside the base getting away, so he took a well-placed motorbike and using the highways continued his mission via ground. The night sky harbored no moon, making the mission just that much easier and making James' insertion only that much easier, not that he was going to have an easy time to begin with because the base was not only filled to the brim with armed guards trained to 'kill first ask later' but they were most likely sporting very powerful thermal or night vision goggles, though they couldn't compare to the Trifocal Dual Goggles James was currently wearing on his head, able to switch between both Night Vision and Thermal Vision in less than a second.

Less than a mile, the rest would be on foot and he assumed there were a dozen or so guards just around the perimeter of the base itself, let alone hundreds actually inside. He reached a safe spot where he assumed he would not be spotted, he radioed Lambert,

"I'm probably about 30 yards from the property line hiding behind a large boulder. Any advice?" Already he trained himself to use that Sub-Vocal Transceiver pretty well, because he had no trouble communicating silently.

"None at all, there's no clear way in, Anderson, you'd have just as much luck running in blindly as you would through stealth." Lambert replied, he was safely housed over 50 miles away in the V-22 Osprey where the team was gathered. A female voice chimed in,

"I'm Anna Grimsdóttir, I'll be the Technical Operations Supervisor for this mission."

"Normally," Lambert chimed in, "We'd have assigned someone else for your missions but because of the severity of the mission we need the best."

"If you need the best why send me? I'm sure you have other Splinter Cells." James replied, grimly beginning to accept how high the rate of failure was.

"Because our golden boy is busy attending other things right now. We'll be split between you and another Splinter Cell so don't panic if we go offline for a few moments."

"I've been studying satellite images from the past several years," Anna chimed, "The base hasn't changed much. In the center is a large lake called 'Groom Lake', that would obviously be a good choice for entering, but there seems no way to access the lake through any channels or streams, so land is your only option. I'll be attempting to navigate the base's computer system to provide additional support, preventing alarms and seeing you on camera."

"Gee, I feel better already." James retorted sarcastically, a nasty habit he'd always had.

"You have 4 hours until Dawn, if you cannot make it out in that time you will be stuck inside the base until nightfall, you do not have room to wait. Good luck, James, we'll be monitoring you and contacting you as needed...and remember, no kills." Lambert and Anna went silent, leaving James to sigh heavily and turn his body to peer out from the top of the boulder.

Using his night vision he saw no signs of life on the nearby hill, but he caught wind of a sign which warned that photography was prohibited and they were allowed to shoot on site if you passed the sign, which didn't ease him at all. With a small sigh he dashed out from behind the boulder and headed towards the sign, his night vision left him with a keen sight ahead of him. Once the sign had been reached James lowered his body to the ground and began to crawl along the ground, a technique which would minimize his visibility even more than it already was. He stopped for a brief second and uncovered part of his suit's right arm to reveal the OPSAT's dimly glowing screen, he placed his left thumb on the screen where it read his print and acknowledged him as a primary user. It was a security feature to ensure it wasn't usable by anyone but authorized personnel. A few keystrokes with his left hand showed him he was 99.3 percent invisible to the naked eye, the remaining .7 percent coming from the base just over the hill.

Once the OPSAT had been secured and hidden in his suit's right arm again, he continued his crawl until he reached the top of the hill, what he saw turned his stomach into knots. Dozens of patrolling guards with M4s, though not one seemed to have any sort of NV or Thermal gear on, but there were plenty of spotlights to illuminate James if he couldn't make it fast enough down the hill. The base itself was monsterous in size and would be difficult to navigate, it was surrounded on all sides by a large 18 foot tall barbed wire and possibly electric fence except for the part of the base touching Groom Lake. James could see a fairly long runway penetrating about 1/3rd of the Lake's surface inward towards the center. Various buildings and gates were also protecting the inner workings of the base, James barely had the patience to take it all in, after all he didn't care how it looked outward, it was inward that counted.

Each guard was patrolling a certain section, many paths crossed and had James had a sense of humor at the moment he would probably call this some sort of video game by the way they moved in their set paths. He moved from his crawling position into a crouched position, that position put strain on his legs though the muscles he had built up would allow him to hold that position and even move with it for hours. He started his trek forward in the crouched position, leaving the NV on for the duration of the outward journey. His main concern was the spotlights running everywhere on the outside of the base, avoiding those would be difficult if he didn't move fast enough, though too fast would make too much noise and with the lack of even crickets, it would be noticeable. His right arm kept a steady hand on the bottom holster for the SC Pistol mainly out of habit, though once he passed the searchlights he let himself relax while he moved to a spot out of the way of the lights and guards, he wasn't touching the fence but he was within several feet of it.

"Careful James, the fence is hot." Lambert warned, "We're not here to watch you become the next item on the McDonalds menu."

"Cute. Has anyone ever told you that your attempt at humor is fleeting at best?" James asked curiously.

"Not in so many words." Lambert replied, "That was the easy part. Getting inside is harder."

"The gates are timed to open at certain intervals or by direct communication with the inside command center. The gates are also monitored and by getting near them you risk being seen on camera." Anna explained, "Therefore, I've determined an alternate route...if you're interested."

"Sure, I'll take alternate over suicidal anyday."

"The lake. The lake has filters which are routed inside the base to a water filtration center, but you'll be swimming for a long period of time and you don't have any way to breathe underwater."

"I'll take it. Explain how it works, I'll start making my way over there."

James listened to Anna's explanation of the alternate route as he made the relatively safe journey around the gates to the edge of the lake.

"First, the lake is patrolled by armed guards, it's also monitored for changes in temperature in a certain spot, remain in one place too long and you'll alert the guards, but using your suit you can regulate your temperature to that of the lake, keeping you clean for a limited time at the risk of getting cold. Once inside the water you'll need to keep just below the surface only coming up for air periodically as you hug the base's underwater wall. It'll lead to a large grate where you'll have to enter to make it into the filtration process. The process begins by flowing water through several filters, these filters will have to be removed quickly and will alert the guards eventually, though we doubt they'll find out by time you leave." Anna's explanation of the process was detailed but short, much to James' preference.

"Three filters, once you pass the final filter you'll be swept away for several seconds until you are dumped into a large tank where the water is filtered by a fourth process, that process takes a large guarded blade and spins the water into a funnel shape, going through the final filtration to prevent anything missed by the first three filtration units. You don't want to know what'll happen if you get sucked into the funnel."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. So it's relatively simple then? Nothing too dangerous?"

"One slight problem with that method." Lambert told him, "We've projected that with the water speed and time it'll take to remove the filters, to the time you can actually come up for air in the large water tank which, I might add, is covered, around 8 minutes will pass."

"Hold on. You said the tank is covered."

"It is, but according to Anna's data the tank is accessible from the outside, so we can assume you can leave the tank from the inside via a hatch on the top, and if we know anything about how water works, there will be just enough air inside the tank for you to breathe in before you open the door."

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

"We hope not."

"Okay, I'm going to it." James went silent as he slowly and stealthfully creeped into the water and around the underwater wall Anna was talking about. His suit was being changed in temperature to match the water, which was about 23 degrees Fahrenheit and would last that way until he was out of the water once more. He swam along the wall's edge and came up for air when it was needed, James counted he needed air every 7 minutes as long as he had a full breath of air before he went back under, though he would feel woozy upon reaching the gate.

James remained floating for a few moments to catch his full breath, then with a big lungful of air he dived to the filtration gate, he grabbed onto the bars with his hands and using his feet pushed off the cement hard enough to break a screw and open it enough to swim inside. He was being pulled slightly through the first filtration gate, at a minute and a half so far he was doing good. He took a few moments to realize he could shoot the gate with his pistol while underwater, it would be just enough, with an accurate shot, to break the bolts holding the gate and allow him access. 3 minutes, he was losing ground and he was feeling the effects of breathing. The second gate he blew past with his technique, but on the third gate at 5 minutes in his gun jammed, it wasn't designed to fire underwater and though worked well through the first and second gate, the lack of underwater capabilities caught up to the pistol. Realizing he couldn't use the gun he holstered it and began to kick at the bolts. He kicked two loose though he was already at 6 minutes in. He kicked another bolt loose with a lot of effort and crawled through the gate. 6 minutes 25 seconds he was feeling the effects of a blackout.

The heavy current now rode him through the twists and turns of the filtration ducts, and blackout was imminent because he was now at his 7 minute mark, he could barely breathe, each second made him feel as though his lungs were going to burst, his vision was darkening heavily and he could barely see. Luck had it and he was in the tank, he had felt himself surface but unable to breathe, he reached out for a latch or something and when he found one he pulled himself with what strength was left and once he surfaced he gasped loudly to get his breath. He held onto the latch with all his might to regain his sight and breath. After 3 minutes of regular breathing he was okay again, and he found himself inside the large filtration tank where the funnel suction was trying to suck him through the fan, but his grip kept him safe. Inside the tank it was dark, only a single circular window showed light from a large room, he was safely inside Area 51.

James realized the hatch had a hand wheel which opened it, all he needed to do was turn it and push hard enough to open it, he spotted a handle which was fused to the metal tank, he assumed that would be used to keep him above water while pushing the hatch. He grabbed onto the handle and used his other hand to turn the hand wheel, he heard a familiar and satisfying click then pushed the hatch open, using both hands now he pulled himself up to see inside the room, but it was clear and he was in no danger. He pushed the hatch open completely, then pulled himself out of the tank; he shut the hatch to prevent suspicion from any entering guards, then radioed Lambert.

"I'm in, I made it into the Water Filtration Room." James spoke, hiding behind the tank where he was opposite the only door in the room.

"Good, we were worried for a moment there. We don't have any specs on the inside of the base, and for this mission we don't need it. All you need to do is find the Intruder and capture him or her."

"And how do I make it out with the intruder?"

"The same way you came in, only you'll stop the fan and let the current take you back out to the lake. It's a continuous cleaning cycle so you'll find yourself back out on Groom Lake, and the rest you already know."

"Alright, any information on the intruder?"

"None we haven't already told you. But it's possible the intruder is a Rogue Splinter Cell from Third Echelon, though that scenario is unlikely."

"And the better scenario is Alternative Government Splinter Cell?"

"Another government creating a Splinter Cell organization is not far fetched. Just find him and bring him to the extraction point." Lambert went silent.

Area 51, no better feeling than having made it inside the world's most secretive Military Base, and no better feeling than knowing you did it rather easily without being spotted. James' only objectives were to find the Intruder and escape with him or her to the extraction point. If only everything was as easy as it sounded.


	3. Detaining

James immediately scanned the room with his keen eyesight, anything dangerous he would pick up in moments, suddenly he pushed himself away from the tank into a corner where he crouched in the shadows. The suit was specially designed, pure black and fiber optics to absorb any light that could penetrate the shadow, oh yes, it wouldn't make him completely invisible but with the way it was designed, as long as he remained still within a shadow he could remain nearly invisible to the naked eye.

"Trouble." James pushed the subdermal, it was the part of the communication device that had been implanted into behind his right ear, the subdermal clicked one as he spoke. Lambert immediately came with a reply,

"We're not in such calm water's either, Anderson. It appears Area 51 has determined hackers are in the network, we cut the connection before it could be traced back. We're unable to help you and your OPSAT's map won't be updated."

"I'm in here like a blind man?"

"Precisely. Until we can connect again you're on your own. Anna is working on it."

"Damn it!" James grumbled, "Anymore bad news?"

"Not unless you have some."

"Except for the camera over the door, not really."

"Then find that agent."

"What could he or she need?"

"Schematics, I'd have to say. Area 51, contrary to popular belief isn't harboring any aliens, but it is the home of most the gear you're using right now, including the goggles."

"Great, so if that agent escapes we're looking at duplicated Government technology."

"Exactly. Make sure that agent doesn't get any of the schematics for anything being worked on."

"Alright, James out." He clicked the subdermal off and hugged the wall the rotating camera was on.

When the time was right he kept close to the wall, but continued toward the camera and the door, he was partially afraid, he usually was trained in low-light conditions, and sometimes trained in heavy light conditions but they usually included plenty of shadows to hide in and back areas to enter. He was in a fully lit base with hundreds of guards trained to shoot to kill, no additional support from Third Echelon and he had no map to go by, this was the most dangerous mission he'd ever been on...and this was his first officially mission to begin with. He heard two voices coming up, he held his breath hoping they weren't trying to enter the water filtration room. The room itself was fairly large, about 56 square feet by 42 square feet, the middle of the room was covered by the large water tank which the filtration nearly finished it's run, pipes and air ducts led out of the room but none were at a height he could reach to climb through, they were mostly 18 feet above him. He only saw one camera as he exited the tank, he had hoped the camera hadn't spotted him.

"We're on high alert, you know that right?" The first guard spoke, he sounded older than the second guard,

"I'm not stupid, of course I know that. Someone found their way inside."

"They can't find him, he's been here for almost four hours now."

"Why not just sound the alarm? Spook him out?"

"Because, think about it, if he thinks we know, he'll bolt and kill as many as he can on his way out."

"We have M4s, you really think he can escape alive?"

"He found his way inside didn't he?" The conversation faded between the two soldiers as they turned a corner away from the Filtration Room.

James immediately clicked the subdermal, "We've got big problems now."

"We heard, they're on high alert without alarms, that means they know someone is inside and will be searching for you."

"If I sound the alarm that'll bring the agent out of hiding, won't it?"

"We can't risk doing that, your mission hasn't changed."

"And the access to the system?"

"We're working on it, they've put up additional support against intruders. Anna is our brightest and best, she'll find a way in. Wait."

The conversation paused for a few moments,

"We're in. Anna found a way and is masking our presence, hopefully we can stay in longer this time. She's working on fixing up a loop to their camera feed which will keep you safe, if worse comes to worse we'll disconnect the generators to the base and leave it in darkness."

The troubles, it seemed, only just began, the entire room went dark as did the entire base, flashes of red bounced off James' body and a female voice came over the intercom,

"Red Alert. A soldier has been found dead. Use lethal force against any intruders, we are on high alert Delta, shoot anything that is not one of us. Lethal force is authorized, shoot to kill."

"Shit!" James cursed, "This agent is getting scared now, what's the plan?"

"We're authorizing the use of firearms, but LTL only," Less-Than Lethal, as long as the enemy wasn't killed it was alright. The special ammo for the SC-20K had been, for the most part LTL, including the Adhesive Electrocuting Bullet Rounds, or affectionately named "Sticky Shockers", they stuck onto the body of an enemy and electrocuted them unconscious for several hours. The "Sticky Camera" had knockout gas activated by self-destructing the camera, when used it could knock out a soldier for up to 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size and how much gas had been inhaled. His final LTL ammo had been airfoils, small and round rings which, if hit in the head, can knock a guard unconscious for 30 minutes. Unfortunately, hitting someone in the chest could potentially kill in a slow manner, by damaging the lungs and allowing fluid to build up in them, one had to be careful with the airfoil rings.

"We're going to knock out the power to the entire base as well as disconnect the camera footage, we'll make it appear as an inside job. Now that the agent has been fully compromised, we may as well take advantage."

"Alright," James spoke, "Soon as I find the agent I'll knock him unconscious." He clicked the subdermal and grabbed onto his standard issue CQC army knife. With it's 5 inch blade and comfortable handle, it made it a handy weapon to carry on him. It was sharpened so of it came down to using it, it wouldn't take much effort.

James noticed the lights were down, he hugged the wall and ensured he wasn't spotted by the camera just in case they hadn't shut the system down yet. Once outside in the hallway, he spotted two choices for directions, unsure of where to go, he activated his OPSAT and marked the current location with a blue dot, so when he was to be extracted he could find his way back quickly. He clicked on NightVision and headed towards the left hallway, he peeked around the corner and noticed 7 armed guards coming towards him, he noticed they didn't have flashlights or nightvision / thermal gear and they were sweeping the area. He realized he had no way to avoid them because of the way they were positions in a lineup, one in the middle and 3 on each side. The guards would make sure no one would bypass them.

James had two choices, return to the water infiltration room or make another attempt to get by them, he looked back to see three more guards also without any form of nighttime gear in the same formation heading towards him, _Damn it, looks like I'm out of options. _He looked up to see a thin pipe hanging above him, he couldn't jump to reach it but he hoped his skills as an athlete would pay off. He backed up against the opposite wall then ran forward, he placed his left foot on the wall and pushed upward, placing his right foot above the left foot, he could feel gravity trying to push him back down but he couldn't give up. His boots were specially made for traction and to resist slippage against any sort of liquid or surface, so they hugged the wall tightly as he moved his left foot above his right foot and pushed off the wall towards the center of the hallway, gravity was pushing him downward but he used his gloved hands to grip tightly into the hanging pipe and when he was no longer swinging wildly his feet joined his hands and he hung onto the pipe like a monkey.

Unfortunately, the pipe was too thin to last very long, he only prayed it would hold until they passed. The 7 guards met with the 3 guards,

"Anything?" Asked one of the seven.

"Nothing. Check in the Filtration Room and continue the way we just came." Replied one of the three.

Without much question the seven guards entered the filtration room and swept it while the three guards continued on where the seven had just come from. James grunted as he heard the pipe about to give way; he realized no one had heard the same noise and when the guards weren't under him, he let go and landed on his feet, immediately crouching to reduce the noise he made when he landed. He knew that as long as there were guards present he would have a difficult time, so training and instinct told him that he needed to remove some guards from the equation and by entering the Filtration Room, he had just that chance.

It would be difficult to perform his actions without being caught, but since the entire room was dark and no one had anything remotely similar to night vision he wasn't worried as long as the power remained out. He headed to a corner and grabbed his SC-20K Rifle strapped on his back, first glance showed it was like a few rifles out there, but looks was as far as similarities ended. With a noise and flash suppressor it was about as quiet as his pistol, and with the additional barrel on the bottom of the gun which was detachable to allow a sniper or shotgun attachment, it could be used for heavy combat, long-range kills, or LTL shots, for this mission and most, the Launcher Attachment was primarily used and the Shotgun and Sniper Attachments were often left on the Osprey since the rifle could fire in a single shot, a three round burst or fully automatic firing. Plus, it was amazing how the Launcher attachment worked, with a press of a button he could change to one of the three LTL ammunitions without having to insert a single projectile by hand which increased his speed, and all it took to fire lethal rounds was another button press. Area 51, it seemed, was the birthplace of some of this technology and James couldn't be happier.

With a press of a button and a pull of the trigger he released a Sticky Camera onto the 4 foot high water filtration tank, using the OPSAT he could maneuver the camera and use it's various functions. He switched to night vision and found 4 of the seven guards in front of the tank, a quick peek from his corner showed the other 3 behind it. As soon as they converged into one single point he pressed a button on the OPSAT, the room was immediately filled with a loud whistle which startled the guards, each pointing the rifles in different directions. James smirked, it worked. "Check it out." Spoke a guard.

"Screw you. You check it out."

"It's the intruder."

"Why would the intruder whistle?"

"We're trained to die."

"I have a newsflash guys...I'm a coward."

"Yeah, thought I smelled something."

"Shut up!"

"Let's all go, and if we see anything we'll just fire the shit out of it."

"One should remain here, just in case."

"Coward."

"I know." One guard remained where he was, outside the range of the gas but the other 6 slowly trudged towards the whistle, made once more by the camera which had been planted 3 feet off the ground, exactly where James wanted it to land. Once the 6 guards converged on the point one sighed loudly,

"Nothing here but ghosts and shadows."

"Shadows, maybe, but I don't believe in ---" Before the guard could finish what he was about to say, a press of the button self-destructed the camera, and the gas knocked the guards out where they crumpled to the floor nearly on top of each other. The remaining guard freaked out,

"Oh my god! I don't want to die!" He was going to run away but James rushed to his point and grabbed him from behind, holding the knife to his throat, "A coward like you should provide information I desire. Speak and I'll spill your blood."

"A- AH!" He coughed as the knife pressed against his Adam's apple, he fell silent.

"Alright, I'm feeling generous today, tell me what you know about the intruder."

"Wha-what?" James tightened his grip on the guard, "Only speak about what I asked."

"Noth-nothing! We don't know anything about the intruder. Only that they've been here for the past 4 hours and killed one of our men."

"Any idea where he might be?"

"Uh, we think he's in the lower subsection, the Development and Testing area. It's two floors down but with the alarms having gone off and everyone on high alert the elevators aren't functional. The only way down is a heavily guarded stairwell, or unless you can levitate I doubt you'll want to use the elevator shaft."

"You've been very in -- what's that smell?"

"Nothing."

"Ugh, gross." James tightened his grip around the guard's neck and shut off the air supply to his brain, after a little time the guard stopped struggling and James let him down gently near his buddies.

He walked to the corner of the room and clicked the Subdermal, "Alright, I'm heading to the Development and Testing Area two floors down."

"Roger, we've discovered that the stairs are heavily guarded and you'll be discovered instantly. The elevator shaft that the man spoke of is your best option." Lambert informed James, "Be careful, this isn't going to be easy."

"My life hasn't been easy, Colonel, and this is just another day." James clicked his subdermal and headed out to the hallway, looking at his OPSAT he determined the route needed and began heading that way.

* * * * * *

Finding his way to the elevator shaft wasn't hard, and avoiding the few guards on the floor weren't that difficult either, it was determining how to use the elevator shaft without falling to his death that was the hard part. He saw, with night vision, which he rarely switched off, that the shaft went down at least twelve floors and the hard part was trying to reach two floors down, which was exactly where he needed to be. He shook his head though, realizing the further down he went the harder it would be to escape if something happened. From one of the many pockets on the Nomex suit he took out a thin rope with a mountain climber hook on the other end. By hooking one end to a stable point he could rappel down the shaft to the second floor, the problem was finding something he could use to hold the hook. He searched around and found the only thing he could find close enough was a door handle, had it been a door knob it may have been riskier, but a handle, as long as it didn't break, would be fine.

He attached the hook to the handle and pulled hard on the handle a couple times to ensure it would hold. The rope attached to the hook was made of thin material but with the proportionate strength to hold up a 230 pound man, thankfully James didn't weigh that much so he had no worries about snapping the rope, it was snapping the handle that the 172 pound man was more worried about. But with no other way to descend the shaft he was forced to use this as his option, besides, with his gloves which resisted heat and friction he could attempt to grab the cables running up and down the shaft in case something went wrong, though that option was slim at best. Backing up to the edge of the shaft he pulled on the rope one more time to determine if it would work, hoping it would, he jumped backwards into the shaft and gave enough slack to the rope so that when it went taunt, it would bring him against the wall with his head below the elevator floor opening. The rope that was attached to the hook was also attached to a small rectangular device located on the Splinter Cell's belt, the agent usually used two hands for the belt, one to hold the rope and another to hold the belt, which had a button on it to allow the rope to descent at the speed the operative would like. In most cases the rope would have to be released from the belt and left there, then a rope would be pulled out from the belt and the hook would be replaced, but Third Echelon was aiding in the development in the use of an electrical cable which, when activated, would send a jolt to the hook and release it from where it was positioned and another button on the belt would retrieve the rope which would wind back up in the belt. That was the one James was currently testing, the only bug was the hook wouldn't always release which wasn't that big of a deal as the rope was normally left behind. The new technology was to allow the Splinter Cell the added benefit of rappelling without leaving evidence behind...after all, he technically wasn't supposed to exist.

He reached the Development and Testing floor, using his feet he pushed off the wall and allowed himself to swing inside the floor using enough rope to land on the floor on his back, where he used a button to release the hook, and the other button to wind the rope back up in the belt. The device worked perfectly for him, whereas other Splinter Cells hadn't always had the same luck. The hook was placed back inside the belt in a safe pouch where it wouldn't be in the way, and he continued his journey. This floor, James immediately realized, was much more heavily guarded than the previous floor, and the hallways weren't 7-men wide, now it was only 3-men wide which gave James little room to maneuver past any guards he would encounter. Luckily, or rather not so luckily, he wouldn't have much time to encounter any M4 wielding guards once he entered a laboratory.

Inside that lab was little in the way of secret technology, it was actually full of caged animals experimented on, James was a little sickened by their treatment of animals in this way, but his treatment of humans hadn't been much better. The animals were fairly quiet, some sleeping in the darkness. The walls were lined with cages, some were empty and others weren't, most of the animals were chimps, some were actually rats and hedgehogs, one was a dog and there were two cats in separate cages. In the middle of the room was a metal table about six feet long and three feet wide, a wheeled cart was on the opposite side of the table in the part of the room James was facing, two cameras were in the room, one above the door and one at the opposite end though they weren't activated. In the corner there was located a cabinet of God only knew what, and next to it was a decent sized sink with plenty of antibacterial soap. Next to the sink on the left facing it was a container of biohazardous needles and a trashcan full of papers in the corner next to James on his right. A small two foot wall was erect next to James on both sides with a small gate probably to prevent the escape of the smaller animals tested in the room, while the door behind him was probably button activated to shut in case of a larger animal release. The darkened room held many secrets, some of which James wasn't interested in, though he would soon find one he was searching for.

Immediately James switched to Thermal, he saw the heat from the animals and one unknown in the corner at the opposite end of the 40 square foot room in the right corner. The size was probably that of a gorilla but there was no cage in the corner as it probably had been removed earlier. James pressed a button and switched to night vision and that was when he was forced to jump behind the wall, he saw only two things before he jumped, the sight of a silenced pistol staring right at him and the figure of a human holding it.

He kept flat against the floor, but rolled onto his back where he clicked his subdermal,

"Found him. He's in an animal testing facility and just fired a shot at me." He told Third Echelon silently,

"LTL, we need him alive, Anderson!" Lambert replied, "But be careful, he knows you're in there, so he'll do whatever he can and won't resort to LTL tactics."

"I'm behind a two foot tall wall with a small gate between, he's in a corner waiting, I don't see a way to get to him without being shot at."

"Remember, your suit can deflect bullets to a certain degree, get too close and they'll penetrate."

"Got it, Colonel." James clicked the subdermal again then grabbed his SC-20K rifle, he switched to the sticky camera and peeked his head above the wall, he noticed the agent was watching him through night vision, but hadn't let off a shot. James fired a sticky camera above the agent's head which prompted another silenced bullet wizzing towards James' head, luckily the shot missed and he was able to lay back on the floor. He opened the OPSAT and saw the image of the agent's head. Whoever it was, he hadn't seen the camera firing and probably didn't even know what it was. The agent was staring towards the door, he probably hadn't moved in hours if information was correct. It was now a waiting game and James wasn't in the market for losing.

Minutes passed, it was becoming quite the boring event but someone had to make a move, the sticky camera, unfortunately, was too far above the head of the agent to stun him with the gas, but James thought that the whistle could startle the agent into standing then using the gas, and he had to try. Pressing the button on the OPSAT he allowed the camera to release another whistle, the agent only looked up to the camera, unmounted it from the wall and quickly through it towards James' location. James grabbed the camera and placed it back in the barrel where he would reuse it later. Something had to be done, this couldn't go on for long and it was about time someone made another move. James radioed to Third Echelon,

"Activate the lights within 15 seconds, I need to take the agent and he's not budging."

"If we activate the lights it'll take some time before we can deactivate them."

"I don't have a choice, I need to take the agent down, now. I'll blind him."

"Okay, counting down." Lambert began counting down the time from 15, James switched to thermal vision and when the lights came on the agent couldn't help but utter a cry of shock and surprise. James hurried while the agent was trying to adjust his eyes after being hit with bright light in Night Vision. He dashed out from behind the wall and over to the agent, pointing the rifle to his head he held the trigger tightly,

"Game over. You lose. Drop your weapons and stand up, slowly." James ordered, the agent did as he was told, he dropped his pistol and rifle and stood up slowly. James positioned himself behind the agent and put the barrel of the rifle to the agent's mid-spine area.

"I've got him." James spoke to Third Echelon, Lambert replied,

"Good. Grim is working on removing the lights again, it'll take a few minutes."

"I'll interrogate him in the meantime." James then spoke to the agent, "Tell me your name."

The agent spoke Chinese, James was able to understand him completely though and even reply, he was fluent in four foreign languages: Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Of course, he was fluent in English as well. Being a Splinter Cell meant knowing the languages of where you were going, otherwise you wouldn't last long.

"I'll tell you nothing."

"Then you'll die where you stand."

"Rather I would die than inform you of what I know."

"He won't talk." James spoke to Lambert, "I'll knock him out and bring him to the extraction point." With a press of a button the rifle was set on "Sticky Shocker",

"I would not do that." The agent spoke.

"Give me a reason."

"Because I am prepared to die." The agent, who had been in a position with his hands over his head, wiggled a knife out from his sleeve and held it in his hand while James was talking to Third Echelon, with a quick move the agent back-kicked at James' knee, pushing him backward with a bit of pain, the agent turned and jumped at James with the knife going towards his throat. James let his feet give way and fell to the ground on his butt, he fired a sticky shocker into the agent's stomach and watched him shake from the electrocution then crumple to the floor.

James replaced the gun on his back, holding it there while he picked up the agent. The lights went off in the complex once again and James carried the agent slung over his shoulder while leaving the room. "I've got him." James told Lambert, "Heading to the extraction point."

"Good job but we have a change of plans."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" James asked curiously.

"You won't have a chance to escape the base through the filtration system now, they've activated security measures to prevent that, and unless you want to risk walking out the front door it seems there's only one option left."

"Why do I know I won't like this?"

"Because you need to disable their SAM sites and hijack a helicopter."

"So now we're in the business of stealing?"

"Just this once. They'll never know it was you. Their main computer is on the first floor where you entered through the Filtration System, reach that and hack into their terminal. Grim will tell you how to disable their SAM sites." Surface to Air Missile Sites, if activated the helicopter James needed to take would never make it to the edge of the base without being shot down.

"Okay, just a question though. Who's Grim?"

"Anna Grimsdottir. We nicknamed her Grim and it's habit."

"Well, long as we're clear. Alright, so any more advice?"

"Just disable their defenses and take a helicopter. If you can land it near the motorbike you can use it to get to the extraction point but be careful because they will follow you. Once you take the helicopter it's all about speed."

"Alright, got it." James left the subdermal on, he didn't care what they heard him say or do from this point he just wanted to get out and home safe.

James only hoped he wouldn't run into any guards, because with him carrying the agent he'd have a heck of a time trying to escape them. _Here's hoping to good fortune. _James thought as he left the Lab and began backtracking to the first floor.


End file.
